"Owen pulled off a part [in Midnight in Paris] that I would have played years ago, but not playing it like me," he said. "Maybe because Owen is such a cowboy - he's from Texas. He's a surfer and beachcomber. He's so unlike me that he could play that part, and you wouldn't think of him doing me.

"Jesse is urban and very much like me. I would have played that part [in To Rome with Love] like Jesse. Maybe not as well because he's got that fast, very skilful delivery, but Jesse could play characters that I play very, very effectively."